Family Troubles
by just.me.nelly
Summary: McGee gets a call from a family member that will change how the way the team see him. On top of this they take a case which is very personal to him.
1. The Call

**The Call**

**Edited and updated**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters. The town and all other characters are my invention. Being an Aussie I am not very familiar with American geography or slang so I am sorry for any mistakes I make or confusion caused because of that.

McGee's hands swiftly passed over his keyboard, typing faster than most people think. It had been a slow day so far, no cases, just paperwork. He stretched his back and stretched his arms up, fingers interlaced. Only 10am and he was already extremely bored, and so was Tony, if the quickly mounting pile of scrunched up paper balls around his bin was any evidence. "Maybe I'll go see Abbs", he thought. Just as he was pushing his chair back his mobile rang. He picked it up, looked at the screen- no id, strange- and answered it. 

"Special Agent McGee" He said, wondering who it could be. 

"Hey Uncle Tim", said the young female voice on the other side. 

"Kat?" answered McGee, hearing the tired and frightened voice of his niece- Katrina. "What's wrong?" 

"Umm, Dad showed up early this morning. Mum's in hospital, he got her pretty bad." She said the faintest evidence of a sob in her voice. 

"Shit!" McGee became vaguely aware of his team mates turning to stare at his at the sound of unadulterated anger in his voice "Is she alright, what about yourself, your sister? I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?" The sound of the Boss' phone ringing seemed worlds away as he processed his nieces' words, his two main thoughts being 'I should have been there to protect them, I am going to kill my brother- God help him if he's hurt little Izzie!' 

McGee noticed that Gibbs was staring at him, writing things down- they probably had a case, he'd have to ask for some time off, go up to be with his girls, take care of Vicki- his sister- in- law, well ex-sister- in- law. 

"Okay. We're fine, he just got Mum- Mum got us to clear out as soon she saw his car. " Said the 17 year old. McGee's heart broke as he heard the pain in her voice, the girl was holding back tears, being strong- for Izzie, otherwise she would just breakdown- wouldn't be any use to any one. "Uncle Tim, Izzie wants to talk to you, hold on a minute, I'll put her on." 

"Hey Daddy" said the gorgeous- at least to her father's desperate ears- voice of the 4 year old. 

"Izzie, hi sweetheart. How are you?" He said; the love and concern seeped into his voice as he talked to his lovely daughter. 

"I'm fine, but Mummy is very hurt." She answered, sounding scared. McGee wanted to just run out of there and go to his family without any delay- instead he paced, without even realising he had stood up. 

"I know sweetie. I'll be there soon, okay. Can I talk to Kat again honey, please?" 

"Ok Daddy." There was a short shuffle as the phone was passed to her older sister. 

"Hey Uncle Tim." 

"Kat, I have to hang up now, and get going, I'll have to get some stuff done, and then I'll be up there soon." 

"Okay." They hung up at the same time, they always seemed to. 


	2. Vicki Who?

**Vicki who?**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters. The town and all other characters are my invention. 

"Who was that?" McGee was abruptly brought back to his present surroundings at the sound of Ziva's voice. He looked up to see Ziva and DiNozzo looking at him curiously, and Gibbs hanging up the phone, also looking at him with a strange face.

"My niece." He said, which was followed by silence, as comprehension- relief even- as DiNozzo and Ziva thought about this, than further confusion as the his words sunk in.

McGee opened his mouth to talk, but before he could talk Gibbs was already talking.

"We've got a job. Robina. A local has been beaten up; prime suspect is her ex- husband- a navy man. Get an overnight bag ready." Gibbs looked at McGee- whose face seemed to relax. He gave a small smile as his three agents moved over to the cupboards behind their desks and pulled out a bag. Gibbs did the same.

"Why did they call us?" Asked Ziva.

At the same time Tony asked "Where's Robina?" in a kind of skeptical voice.

They all turned to McGee as he answered both questions. "The woman is the local NCIS agent- Vicki McGee- at Robina. Robina is a town 5 hours drive south from here." He thought, 'this is going to be a long drive, but I am glad that Gibbs is on the case'.

"Vicki McGee?" came the stunned response of his teammates, except for Gibbs. 'Good thing I didn't tell them about Izzie' thought McGee.

"I take it she is a relative of yours than McGee, is that what that call was just about?" Said Gibbs.

"Yes boss. Vicki is my ex- sister- in- law. My niece- Katrina- rang to tell me." Was all McGee could say, as he looked at Tony and Ziva's faces. He could barely stop himself from laughing at the still stunned looks on their faces. He was surprised to actually hear laughter, at first he thought it was his own, but he realized he recognized it, and it definitely wasn't his. He looked up to see Abby, laughing at Tony and Ziva, who were still standing there looking foolish.

"Did I miss something?" said Abby as she finely managed to contain her laughter. She suddenly regretted the laughter as she saw the pain on McGee's face and the embarrassment of Ziva and Tony. "What happened?"

Ziva answered "McGee just got a call from his niece."

"Ohh" said Abby, still not understanding why everyone was acting so strange.

"My sister- in- law is in hospital- assault, Gibbs just got the call to say we are going out there" said McGee.

"Ohh, I am so sorry McGee" said Abby, she ran over and gave him a hug.

McGee slowly put his own arms around Abby's waist, just lightly. The feel and smell of her brought him back down to earth.

"I still don't get why they called us, not NCIS, but _us_. Doesn't seem like that hard a case." Said DiNozzo.

"I wanted my best team on this case, regardless of its difficulty. Also I thought McGee might appreciate someone he knows on this one." Said Director Sheppard.

They all turned to look at her, only Gibbs had noticed she had come downstairs.

"She has you down as her next of kin." She said in reply to McGee's questioning look.

"Right, now that little mystery is solved, lets go." They heard Gibbs say.

Gibbs moved toward the elevator- coffee in one hand bag slung over his shoulder, his team following closely behind. Gibbs noticed that Abby was still holding McGee as they moved toward the elevator, Abby letting go as they got closer. "Abby I will send any lab work up." He said as the elevator arrived.  
"Umm, there's a lab there Boss, at the university, which they use for forensics." said McGee as he entered the elevator.

As they all turned to him they saw a slightly mischievous look on his face, which was quickly wiped off. "They're surprised now, and they don't even know most of it. But that not important now, taking care of Vicki and the girls was, making sure they're safe" Thought McGee.


	3. The Car Ride

**Chapter 3: The Car Ride**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of their characters, I do own all other characters not in the TV series. 

"Yes boss. Vicki is my ex- sister- in- law. My niece- Katrina- rang to tell me." Was all McGee could say, as he looked at Tony and Ziva's faces. He could barely stop himself from laughing at the still stunned looks on their faces. He was surprised to actually hear laughter, at first he thought it was his own, but he realized he recognized it, and it definitely wasn't his. He looked up to see Abby, laughing at Tony and Ziva, who were still standing there looking foolish.

"Did I miss something?" said Abby as she finely managed to contain her laughter. She suddenly regretted the laughter as she saw the pain on McGee's face and the embarrassment of Ziva and Tony. "What happened?"

Ziva answered "McGee just got a call from his niece."

"Ohh" said Abby, still not understanding why everyone was acting so strange.

"My sister- in- law is in hospital- assault, Gibbs just got the call to say we are going out there" said McGee.

"Ohh, I am so sorry McGee" said Abby, she ran over and gave him a hug.

McGee slowly put his own arms around Abby's waist, just lightly. The feel and smell of her brought him back down to earth.

"I still don't get why they called us, not NCIS, but _us_. Doesn't seem like that hard a case." Said DiNozzo.

"I wanted my best team on this case, regardless of its difficulty. Also I thought McGee might appreciate someone he knows on this one." Said Director Sheppard.

They all turned to look at her, only Gibbs had noticed she had come downstairs.

"She has you down as her next of kin." She said in reply to McGee's questioning look.

"Right, now that little mystery is solved, lets go." They heard Gibbs say.

Gibbs moved toward the elevator- coffee in one hand bag slung over his shoulder, his team following closely behind. Gibbs noticed that Abby was still holding McGee as they moved toward the elevator, Abby letting go as they got closer. "Abby I will send any lab work up." He said as the elevator arrived.  
"Umm, there's a lab there Boss, at the university, which they use for forensics." said McGee as he entered the elevator.

As they all turned to him they saw a slightly mischievous look on his face, which was quickly wiped off. 'They're surprised now, and they don't even know most of it. But that not important now, taking care of Vicki and the girls was, making sure they're safe.' Thought McGee.

As they got near the car McGee got out his cell and called Robina's sheriff- Jack Black.

"Hello" came the answer from the other side.

"Jack, its Tim McGee, how's Vicki?"

"She's not doing so well."

"Right. Look, my boss has been given this case. We'll be arriving in about 5 hours." Jack was undoubtedly been the one to call NCIS.

"Good, I'll see you when you get here, give me a call when you arrive. Oh, you got a number for Jenna? She is away for the week, not due back till tomorrow, some family doo or something, we can't get her on her cell."

McGee had totally forgotten she had headed home for her cousins wedding. She would have turned off her cell while staying at her parents place.

"Yeah, I'll give her a call." Was all he said in reply. "See you soon."

"Right." Said Sherriff Black before he hang up.

He called Jenna's parents house. While he waited for the phone to be answered he thought back to the last time he wad seen Jenna's parents, who had had never understood why their only daughter had become friends with someone she had only had animosity towards from the third grade, seemingly till the end of school, though they had actually been good friends from about tenth grade.

"The Welton's." He heard from the other side, bringing him back to the present.

"Mrs. Welton, this is Timothy McGee, I was wondering if I could speak to Jenna. "

"Oh, of course. I'll get her, just a minute." He heard her put the phone on the table, and then her voice faintly in the background as she called Jenna.

"Hey Tim, what's up?" Finally came Jenna's voice after what seemed like an hour, the sound of it relaxed McGee a little.

"Jenna, hi. Rick found Vicki, she's in the hospital. I'm heading there now."

He could hear her swearing under her breath, always careful her parents didn't hear. "What about the girls?"

"They're fine. He didn't get to them."

"Good. Look, I'll be there as quickly as I can okay." She hung up.

He hung up and closed his mobile, looking out the window he was surprised to find they were nearly out of the city centre.

The car was absolutely silent for the next two hours. Gibbs was driving, DiNozzo in the front passenger seat, McGee and Ziva in the back.

"Your sister- in- law?" Asked DiNozzo, breaking the fragile peace.

"Yes." Answered McGee, who was trying his hardest not to imagine Vicki in the hospital, a sight which was flashed over by the memory of the small figure of Katrina in a hospital bed, bruises all over her body, both arms and one leg broken, along with a few ribs.

"I thought you only had a younger sister." Said Ziva.

"I do, you only asked me if I have sisters, I also have an older brother, Rick. He is Vicki's ex, and Katrina's father, they were seventeen when Vicki got pregnant with her, they got married soon after- at the behest of our parents, who took them in afterwards. Her parents wouldn't have anything to do with any of them." McGee stated.

After this there was silence again, but only for a little while.

"Why do they suspect your brother?" Asked Gibbs.

"Because he has a history of domestic abuse." McGee stated matter- of- factly, no hint of embarrassment, just anger.

"What happened?"

"Two days after coming home from his first stint out at sea he started drinking, heavily. One day Katrina, who was five at the time, came home from school by herself. Rick was sitting in the lounge room surrounded by beer bottles. She told him he stunk and he threw a bottle at her- barely missing her head, so she started to cry. He got up, punched her and kept on punching her. Two minutes later I walked in to find this going on, picked up the nearest thing and threw it at Rick. He flung her across the room and came at me, and started laying into me." He shrugged. "All I could think of though was Kat's small still form sprawled across the room." He looked out the window and paused for a minute as he again saw this flash through his mind. "Next door neighbour heard the noise and called the cops. We both ended up in hospital with bruises and broken bones. Doctors said she would have probably died if I hadn't arrived." he concluded, as if it happened to everyone.

"How old where you?" Asked Ziva, shocked at the story, as where the others.

"Sixteen." came the response.

The car again descended into silence. 


	4. Arrival

**Chapter 4: Arrival**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters.

As they neared the town McGee felt both relief and dread. He felt relieved that they were finally there, and dread at the thought of seeing Vicki in the hospital, bruised and broken.

"Which way, McGee?" He heard Gibbs say.

With some effort McGee made himself concentrate on the practical stuff like where they were. "I'll give Sherriff Black a call and see where the best place to go is." Replied McGee.  
He pulled out his mobile and rang Jack, who quickly answered his phone.

"Hello".

"Jack, its Tim, how's Vicki?"

"She's out of surgery; they've her to ICU and she is resting, doctors say it will be hours before the sedatives wear off. You just arriving?"

"Yeah. My boss wanted to know where to go."

"I'm at the hospital so you all might as well come here first. I can go over what we have so far."

"Yeah, see you soon."

"Right." Said Sherriff Black before he hang up.

McGee himself hung up his phone and turned to Gibbs. They were already on the main street heading toward the centre of town.

"Take the third left, then the second right, and then the first left. That will get you to the hospital." He told Gibbs.

When they arrived they were greeted by Sherriff Black, who completely ignored the others and went straight to McGee, who shook his hand.

"Tim. She's in ICU room 6, closest to the nurses' station on level two. This is your team?" Said Black, seemingly without taking a breath.

"Hi Jack." Replied McGee. "This is Special Agents Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, and Ziva David." He turned to Gibbs. "Boss, this is Sherriff Jack Black."

"Jack Black?" Came the incredulous response from DiNozzo. "Sounds like something from a movie!"

McGee rolled his eyes "Ignore him."

Black turned to Gibbs and said "Shall we walk and talk, coffees' inside."

"Huhm." Was all Gibbs, who had had the same idea, said as they followed Black inside.

As they made their way over to the elevator Black started telling them what had happened early that morning. They all listen intently, and all heard the anger and pain seep into his voice as the story progressed.

"Got a call around 5am this morning from Katrina on her mobile. She said she and her sister were in the field near their house, her father had shown up about 10 minutes before that and her mother had stayed behind to stall him; that I needed to get there quickly and get an ambulance there. She sounded frightened- something I had never heard from her before, so I did just that. When my deputies and I got there 20 minutes after Katrina's call I saw a strange car in the drive and lights on throughout the house. The door had been kicked in. Although there was complete silence inside there were other signs of a struggle. We made our way in quietly, touched as little as possible. We found Vicki splayed out on the lounge room floor, unconscious but breathing. Her clothes had been ripped and she was covered in bruises and cuts- small ones, as if she had lain on broken glass- of which there was a lot around. While my deputies secured the house and yard I stayed with her and checked her out for big injuries, wasn't anything I could do though. EMT's arrived about five minutes after we did, they're a little further away. They did their job quickly and got her here. As soon as they had left I called Katrina, make sure she was still safe. She had made it over to the next door neighbours, who were taking good care of them so I spent some more time there with my men canvassing the area, trying to catch the bastard. No offence Tim."

"Bastard about sums him up Jack." Said McGee, himself sounding very angry. By now the elevator had arrived and they were heading upstairs.

Black continued. "Once we were absolutely sure that the area was clear, took a couple of hours, we made our way back to the house, where one of my men had stayed to keep watch. I left three of them there- told them not to go inside, sent one back to the station, picked up the girls and came here." He looked around the group. They all looked angry, Tim was the only one who wasn't trying hide it. The female agent- what was it, oh yeah David- was the best at hiding her emotions, but they could just be seen under the surface, anger and curiosity.

"There are two girls?" She asked.

"Well, yeah." Said Black, wondering why they didn't seem to know much about their colleagues family.

McGee smiled slightly and decided they could wait 2 minutes to find out the truth upstairs - he would rather listen to Black than dealing with their shock. "Vicki has another daughter, Izzie." He said, looking at Black- hopping he would leave it at that.

Black nodded and continued, understanding that Tim needed to hear what he had to say. "After I got them here and got an update on Vicki I went to the station. Called the local radio station told them to get people on the lookout for Rick- sent over a picture for them to use for a description. Called the Navy Base did the same with them, then called your Director- seeing as Vicki is NCIS, and Rick is Navy."

"You have no problem with jurisdiction?" Asked DiNozzo, amazed that the Sherriff seemed happy to hand this over to them- he was used to having to fight for jurisdiction.

"Son, ten years ago this was a small, quiet town. Then they opened a university 30 minutes west of here and a Navy base 20 minutes down the coast. Our population tripled in one year as students, professors and Navy families came to live here. With the new cinemas, shopping centre, bowling alley, skate rings and other such things, we are the biggest town for another two and a half hours in all directions. Even so our biggest problems have been drunk driving, disturbance of the peace- loud parties, fights and the kin- theft and other misdemeanours. My deputies and I all took a short aptitude test and weapons training- that is the only accreditation we have. Vicki, in her position with NCIS and also working with me as a detective, is the closest we have to a detective, even B&Es are investigated under her supervision. Before she arrived we had to get a detective from the city to deal with anything heavier than speeding tickets or breaking up a fight. I have learnt a lot from her and Jenna, but not enough that I feel confident tackling this. So yes, I am happy to hand this over to you. Besides that, the main victim is a friend and colleague, no way I can be objective on this."

This silenced the whole group as they arrived on the second floor and stepped out of elevator.


	5. Izzie and Katrina

**Chapter 5: Izzie and Katrina**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

As they got to the corridor Vicki was on, they heard a yell of delight from what appeared to be a moving bundle of pink.

"Daddy!"

They were astonished to see McGee smile and crouch down to catch the little girl. The girl was dressed pink pyjamas, her blond hair hidden under the hood of her pink dressing gown.  
McGee heard the astounded voice of one of his co- workers, "Daddy?", but he didn't care who it was, though he guessed it was probably DiNozzo.

"Izzie, oh sweetheart, it is so good to see you." Relief flooded through McGee, even though in his mind he knew that Rick had gotten hurt Vicki, had had been scared to find that Izzie had been hurt too. He stood up, holding his young daughter, and turned back to his friends, but before he could introduce her to them he heard another voice he recognized.

"Uncle Tim." Said the young voice behind him- Katrina.

He turned back around. Kat stepped forward into his arms. He put his free arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. After a while she stepped back, smiling at her uncle, nodded slightly at Black and then looked at the team, with a sly look on her. She nearly laughed at the shocked look on the faces of the two younger ones and the curious and amused look of the older one.

DiNozzo looked at the slender young lady standing before them. She was wearing low cut light blue jeans; a black tank top with 'Death' written on it in silver which nicely showed off her fit looking body- curvy in all the right places. The space between the tank top and jeans showed a sliver of flesh, appealing but not trashy, definitely not trashy. Her very short brown hair was spiked and messy; the bright red stripes in her hair actually looked good on her. But most surprising was the gun sitting in a holster at her right hip.

"DiNozzo!" Came the angry utterance from McGee.

"Right, not a good idea to size up the niece then- I take it this is Katrina. " He said.

"No, and yes." Said uncle and niece at the same time, both answering the statements in the order presented to them. They turned to each other and smiled. McGee continued. "Let me introduce them properly. As you might have guessed this", he said gesturing to the young girl in his arms, "this is my daughter with Vicki, Isabel. And of course, this is my niece, Katrina" He looked pointedly at DiNozzo. "She is seventeen." He saw Ziva open her mouth with a question- probably the same one they were all thinking by now. "Yes, I had a _short_ romantic relationship with my _ex- _sister- in law. It was four years ago and is most definitely over." He paused for a minute, looked at his two girls and said. "Girls, this is my boss Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and my team mates Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and Special Agent Ziva David."

Isabel pulled her head up from her father's shoulder and looked at them. "Hello." She smiled as she looked at Gibbs. He smiled back.

Katrina brought her right hand up to her forehead and gestured as if tipping a hat.

Ziva didn't really know what to think of the girl. She dressed and held herself like a soldier- even had a weapon, but talked like a teenager- she was a teenager, she reminded herself, and her hair was strange, but nice. The young child confused her even more- it was hard to believe that her friend could keep such a big secret from her. It helped, a bit, that the others did not seem to know either.

Gibbs also appraised the girls. The young one, Isabel, McGee held onto as if he was afraid to let go of her- that's good, it shows he cares for her very much. Izzie had burrowed her head into his shoulder- shutting out the world; she had her little arms around his neck- McGee wasn't the only one who was scared of letting go. The other one, the niece Katrina, seemed like the typical rebellious teenager- red stripped hair, a top he thought Abby would like, 'I control the world' stance. The only thing that surprised him was the holster at her right hip.

"I take it she can handle that gun?" He asked, directing the question at McGee.

"I have done unarmed combat and weapons training since I was seven. I have a special permit to carry it in town." Replied Kat in an even voice, she was used to that.

"She's good with it, better than me." Added McGee, unashamed to admit the girl was a better shooter than him; "Isn't hard though" thought McGee.

Gibbs raised his eyebrow at these comments. "You have a very interesting family McGee." He said, hopping there were no more surprise, at least for now.

"You don't know half of it." Said McGee, suddenly feeling ashamed at how much he was hiding from them, and had been for years.

"I don't think I want know." Said Gibbs, wondering what else there could be. A while ago they had met Sara, McGee's sister, when she had been framed with murder. It seems she was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to family troubles.

"Izzie and I have taken over the waiting room, it's right next to Mum's room. We'll be a lot more comfortable in there." Said Kat, she turned around and entered the room behind her, followed closely by McGee and then the others.


	6. Kat's Story

**Chapter 7: McGee & the brother's ex**

Disclaimer: I don't and never will own NCIS, Robina, and all non show characters are purely my invention and of no value outside the story.

It took Kat a couple of minutes to calm down again. The room was quiet as they let Kat's story sink in.

After a while DiNozzo's mind started to wander- right back to when McGee had said Izzie was his daughter, with his brother's ex.

"Okay wait. I know we should be focusing on the case and all that but I gotta know- how did you end up with your brother's ex?" He asked McGee.

Kat giggled as she remembered the day she had caught her mother and uncle in bed together- they had nearly jumped out of bed when they remembered what had happened the night before. She had spent the rest of the day laughing at them as they tried to say two coherent words to each other- no one had been laughing two weeks later though when her mum found out she was pregnant.

McGee sighed, knowing he was going to have to tell the story. "After I finished college Vicki and I become good friends, we had been friends before, but we spent more time together that year. I spent a weekend with Vicki and Kat, and Vicki and I stayed up late drinking. We, uhh, well we ended up in bed together. It was the _only_ time we slept together."

"So you had a one night stand with your brother's ex and got daughter out of it!" Said Ziva, trying not to laugh, noting that Kat was also trying not to laugh. "It seems you are not an angry drunk like the rest of your family."

"Thanks for pointing that out Ziva, really helpful." Said McGee, he sighed. "Rick and Sara are definitely the worse drinkers in our family."

"Yeah, but Aunt Sara has only ever assaulted cars, never people." Added Kat.

Gibbs chuckled slightly at his agent's awkwardness. A one night stand seemed out of character for McGee, and McGee seemed totally aware of that.

"So you didn't marry her and promise to always take care of the kid?" Asked DiNozzo, getting back to the original question.

"No, marrying Vicki never crossed my mind, or hers, but I do play a big role in Izzie's life. For us, that never meant me living with them. I call and video shat when I can, talk to them everyday. " Said McGee.

"Yeah, and you come up here when you have holidays, and whenever else you can. And there's Jenna." Said Kat, looking at McGee, as if it explained everything.

"Jenna and I weren't together then." Answered McGee.

"Okay, that is the third time someone has mentioned a Jenna! Who is Jenna?" Asked Ziva.

"That would be me." They heard a voice answer from the door.

They all turned around to see a stunning blond woman dressed in a white pants suit with a pink shirt, her hair up in a bun.

DiNozzo openly gawked as she entered the room. When he finally found his voice he said "You were with McGee?" amazed that a woman as beautiful, and normal, as her would even consider going out with McGee.

"On and off, yes." She said smiling, gently, with a sultry undertone as she looked at McGee.

"But you're so… normal." Said a stunned DiNozzo.

"Looks can be deceiving." She replied, with a bit of laugh.

"Still doesn't answer my question." Said Ziva, annoyed at the reaction the woman was getting from DiNozzo.

Jenna turned to Ziva, looked her up and down and said, "Professor Jenna Welton, forensic specialist and M.E." holding out her hand for Ziva to shake. "Hi."

"Hi, Special Agent Ziva David."

McGee spoke up. "Jenna, that is my boss, Special Agent Gibbs" he pointed at Gibbs, and then at DiNozzo, "and the one with his mouth hanging open is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

Kat laughed as DiNozzo quickly closed his mouth.

"Right, if you don't mind I'll go and get changed and then I'll get started on work." She looked at McGee who nodded; she could see the worry in his face.

"Yeah, go get out of those Mamma's girl clothes. I don't know why you still bother trying to please that woman. Not even your court clothes are that sedate."

She laughed at that, glad to see he hadn't totally shut down. "Have you been to the scene?" She asked, turning to Gibbs.

"Not yet."

"Good, I'll come with you." He raised his eyebrows at that so she said "I have field accreditation, and my lab is the local forensic lab." With that she turned to head out the room. She stopped when she heard Izzie speak.

"Where is William?" Asked the little girl.

Jenna turned her head to look at Izzie and smiled warmly. "He is out in the kids' corner, hon." She said and walked out to the room.

"Daddy, can I go play with William?"

"Of course, hon. Kat, could you go out with her?"

Kat groaned. "Fine, but I'd rather be here. Definitely more entertaining."

"Noted, now scat." Said McGee, giving his daughter one more kiss her head as she slipped off his lap.

"I'll go with her if you like." Said a voice from a quiet corner. They all turned to the voice, where they found Black sitting, mostly forgotten. "It's getting too crowded in here for my liking." He stood up to lead Izzie out, the little girl taking his hand.

"Cool." Said Kat, settling down- quite happy to find entertain7ment in her uncle's discomfit.


	7. McGee & the brother's ex

Disclaimer: I don not and never will own NCIS, Robina, and all non show characters are purely my invention and of no value outside the story

A/N: I am introducing a couple of new characters here which not everyone may not like, well tough bickies, I do, and am actually quite proud of them.

Chapter7- McGee & and the brother's ex??

It took Kat a couple of minutes to calm down again. The room was quiet as they let Kat's story sink in.

After a while DiNozzo's mind started to wander- right back to when McGee had said Izzie was his daughter, with his brother's ex.

"Okay wait. I know we should be focusing on the case and all that but I gotta know- how did you end up with your brother's ex??" He asked McGee

Kat giggled as she remembered the day she had caught her mother and uncle in bed together- they had nearly jumped out of bed when they remembered what had happened the night before. She had spent the rest of the day laughing at them as the tried to say two coherent words to each other- no one had been laughing two weeks later though when her mum found out she was pregnant.

McGee sighed, knowing he was going to have to tell the story. "After I finished college Vicki and I become good friends, we had been friends before, but we spent more time together that year. I spent a weekend with Vicki and Kat, and Vicki and I stayed up late drinking. We, uhh, well we ended up in bed together. It was the _only_ time we slept together."

"So you had a one night stand with your brother's ex and got daughter out of it!" Said Ziva, trying not to laugh, noting that Kat was also trying not to laugh. "It seems you are not an angry drunk like the rest of your family."

"Thanks for pointing that out Ziva, really helpful." Said McGee, he sighed. "Rick and Sara are definitely the worse drinkers in our family."

"Yeah, but Aunt Sara has only ever assaulted cars, never people." Added Kat.

Gibbs chuckled slightly at his agent's awkwardness. A one night stand seemed out of character for McGee, and McGee seemed totally aware of that.

"So you didn't marry her and promise to always take care of the kid?" Asked DiNozzo, getting back to the original question.

"No, marrying Vicki never crossed my mind, or hers, but I do play a big role in Izzie's life. For us that never meant me living with them." Said McGee.

"Yeah, and you come up here when you have holidays, and whenever else you can. And there's Jenna." Said Kat, looking at McGee, as if it explained everything.

"Jenna and I weren't together then." Answered McGee.

"Okay, that is the third time someone has mentioned a Jenna! Who is Jenna?" Asked Ziva.

"That would be me." They heard a voice answer from the door.

They all turned around to see a stunning blond woman dressed in a white pants suit with a pink shirt, her hair up in a bun.

DiNozzo openly gawked as she entered the room. When he finally found his voice he said "You were with McGee?" amazed that a woman as beautiful, and normal, as her would even consider going out with McGee.

"On and of, yes." She said smiling, gently, with a sultry undertone as she looked at McGee.

"But you're so… normal." Said a stunned DiNozzo.

"Looks can be deceiving." She replied, with a bit of laugh.

"Still doesn't answer my question." Said Ziva, annoyed at the reaction the woman was getting from DiNozzo.

Jenna turned to Ziva, looked her up and down and said, "Jenna Welton, forensic specialist, M.E. and university professor", holding out her hand for Ziva to shake. "Hi."

"Hi, Special Agent Ziva David."

McGee spoke up. "Jenna, that is my boss, Special Agent Gibbs" he pointed at Gibbs, and then at DiNozzo, "and the one with his mouth hanging open is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

Kat laughed as DiNozzo quickly closed his mouth.

"Right, if you don't mind I'll go and get changed and then I'll get started on work." She looked at McGee who nodded; she could see the worry in his face.

"Yeah, go get out of those Mamma's girl clothes. I don't know why you still bother to please that woman. Not even your court clothes are that sedate."

She laughed at that, glad to see he hadn't totally shut down. "Have you been to the scene?" She asked, turning to Gibbs.

"Not yet."

"Good, I'll come with you." He raised his eyebrows at that so she said "I have field accreditation, and anyway I am the M.E. here." With that she turned to head out the room. She stopped when she heard Izzie speak.

"Where is William?" Asked the little girl.

Jenna turned her head to look at Izzie and smiled warmly. "He is out in the kids' corner, hon." She said and walked out to the room.

"Daddy, can I go play with William?"

"Of course, hon. Kat, could you go out with her?"

Kat groaned. "Fine, but I'd rather be here. Definitely more entertaining."

"Noted, now scat." Said McGee, giving his daughter one more kiss her head as she slipped off his lap.

"I'll go with her if you like." Said a voice from a quiet corner. They all turned to the voice, where they found Black sitting, mostly forgotten. "It's getting too crowded in here for my liking." He stood up to lead Izzie out, the little girl taking his hand.

"Cool." Said Kat, settling down, quite happy to find entertainment in her uncle's discomfit.


	8. Jenna and William

**Chapter 8: Jenna and William**

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any character affiliated with it, I only have them on loan. 

After minutes of cautious silence- Kat and Gibbs seemed to be the only ones totally at ease- the quiet was broken by another awkward question.

"Who is William," asked DiNozzo, "her boyfriend?" wondering if he had any chance with Jenna.

Kat snorted, answering before McGee could. "He is Jenna's son, my cousin." She stated with sly amusement. She saw McGee squirm.

Everyone one in the room turned to McGee, waiting for an explanation, which didn't come. The only sign that McGee was aware of the statement, or the reaction from his colleagues, was the dark red that quickly filled McGee's face.

"You have another child, with another woman?" Asked Gibbs, amazed that his remarkably reserved agent had been hiding this from them, or that it had happened at all.

"Yes". Was all McGee managed to croak. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, and then pointed at DiNozzo. "I was married to Jenna though." The red on face deepened, if that was at all possible, as he realized what he had just said. He wasn't ashamed of his relationship with Jenna, but he hadn't wanted his teammates to find out about her or William this way, if at all.

By now Kat was laughing out loud. McGee turned to her to try and get her to stop, but it just made her laugh more. The rest of the room was too stunned to do anything except stare.

"You were married?" Gibbs asked, now with a bit of amusement.

"Yeah, we were kind of an item during college and before that- sort of. We didn't plan on getting married though; we went to Las Vegas for a weekend, with friends. We got extremely drunk that night and woke up together the next morning with wedding rings and a wedding certificate. The annulment came through about two months later. By then Jenna was pregnant with William, but we didn't find that out till after the annulment came through." He knew things would never be the same again. They probably all thought he was a jerk, or at least a sad fool, some times he thought both of those things himself. He also knew they would have more questions, none of which he wanted to answer.

"So you conceived your _son_ while incredibly drunk, on your wedding night?" asked DiNozzo, still trying to get his head around the idea of McGee having one kid, let alone two.

"No" came the response, only it wasn't McGee who was talking. "He was conceived about a month after that, and we were both sober."

They all turned to look at Jenna, who was standing in the door again. A half smile adorned her face for a second as she entered the room. Her hair was now in a braid, with black streaks visible. She was wearing low sitting green camouflage cargo pants, a black tank top- frayed at the neck line, with a slit that showed off just the right amount of cleavage; there were small cap sleeves, which were also slit to the shoulder. Her gun holster was connected to a wide black belt sitting loosely and low on her hips, her badge next to it. A silver skull print just visible on her pants, on the back left hand side, just below her hip. There were several leather straps around her wrists and a thin leather necklace was wound around her neck with a small silver gun hanging just below the depression at the bottom of her neck.

Again the room was stunned into quiet, until McGee spoke as he stood up.

"Now _that_ is the woman I married!" He got up and walked toward her, stopping inches form her.

She put her hand first on his chest and then wound it up around the back of his neck, at the same time feeling his hand go around her waist- pulling her in closer. She leaned in and bent her head upwards to meet his kiss, at first gently then a lot more passionately.

This is how it always was with them, they didn't get together often but when they did it was always explosive. She knew that there was a girl in Washington that he liked, loved even, and that they had been together for a short while, but they both knew that Abby was no where near close to being ready to take him seriously. From the sounds of it she was a sweet girl, who was playing the field. So for now, she and Tim operated as they had since the eleventh grade: on- and- off and secret for the most part, though exclusive when they were together.

But all this was forgotten as she kissed him, letting their tongues explore well known territory, she bit his lower lip slightly as he pulled away, smiling. She saw him lick his bottom lip, savouring the taste of her.

Her own smile deepened and changed, from sultry to amused, as she saw the faces of Tim's team mates.

"That didn't look very past tense!" DiNozzo managed to utter.

"Yeah well, like Jenna said, we work on a on- and- off basis." McGee said, surprising himself with his own lucidity, and lack of embarrassment. He had years of practice at making his mind work when all he wanted to do was pull his Jenna into a quite, private corner and forget the rest of the world existed. He could tell that she was feeling the same way as her hand was still sitting on his waist, gently clutching his shirt under his jacket.

Before anyone could say anything further Izzie and William walked into the room, followed by Black.  
Izzie let go of her older brother's hand and walked over to her sister and unceremoniously plunked herself in Kat's lap. William smiled as went over to his father and gave him a hug.

"Hey Dad." The boy said.

"Hey William." McGee replied, bending down to hug his eight year old son. "How are you doing?"

"Okay. Grandmother and Grandfather's place was sooo boring, they barely talked to me; and Mum and Grandmother got into a fight, _again_. _And_ I had to get dressed up for the wedding, and all these old ladies kept on pulling at my cheeks and leaving lipstick marks on my face." McGee grimaced in sympathy. "Oh, and at the wedding Grandmother tried to set up Mum with some cousin's best friend or something." He shrugged, used to his grandmother's antics. "It was nice seeing Grandma and Gramps, though. Mum and Grandma and I made cookies and then Grandpa and I played playstation, I even let Grandpa win a few times. It was cool."

McGee sighed and stood up, looking at his ex- wife he said: "I thought you were supposed to fight with your mother- in- law and then go and cry on your mother's shoulder, not the other way around."

"Hey, I can't help it if your mother is nice while my mother is a bitch." She turned to her son. "Don't _ever_ let me hear you say that word! Got it!"

"I got it, Mum!"

McGee smiled at the interaction, saddened by the fact that he wasn't around to see this kind of thing more often, to be the kind of Dad he wanted to be, for both his kids.


	9. Memories, Moments & Conversations

**Chapter 9: Memories, Moments & Conversations**

Disclaimer: Just borrowing them for my own, and hopefully your amusement.

Jenna suddenly straightened up and looked first at McGee then at Gibbs and said "Shall we roll?"

Gibbs slightly raised one eyebrow and gestured with his arm, coffee cup in hand, toward the door, unmistakably to say "lead the way".

McGee looked through the glass at Vicki and then at the kids. "Boss if I think it would be better if I stayed here." On top of it his being an active member on this case not being advisable, for legal reasons, he wanted to be with his kids, make sure they were safe. "I'll call you when Vicki wakes up."

Gibbs just nodded. He turned to leave the room and turned back to McGee and said, almost as an after thought, "You had better set up a video link to HQ, or something like that, get in touch with Abby."  
Both Jenna and McGee stiffened a little, the later nodding slightly, and Gibbs figured that Jenna had heard of his agent's former affair with his forensic specialist. Gibbs turned back towards the door and led the rest of his team, Black and Jenna out of the room.

They all stopped in the corridor as Jenna stopped at the nurses' counter to check that an assault and rape kit had been done on Vicki, which it had.

As they started again to head down the corridor they heard McGee call out.

"Shot!" He called out, smiling as he did so, knowing it would confuse his team mates. It always surprised him how much more comfortable and confident he was when around Jenna, especially considering she had been one of the school bullies. Well, even then they had secretly been in a relationship, a competitive friendship that had changed and evolved to what they had now.

Jenna turned around to see what McGee wanted. She had a sudden flash back into how he started calling her that.

_It was the last week of the summer holidays just before their senior year and Jenna had just gotten home from a trip with her parents. Which had of course made her more stressed than exams week, and she had fantasized about killing her mother, or herself because of the boredom of the endless afternoon teas with her mothers' friends, hearing arguments between her parents, and avoiding arguments with her mother- even when Jenna was right, that woman made her feel shame and like she didn't matter. In one morning of freedom she had gone to the beach by herself, then to a expensive and well known tattoo parlour to get the picture of the bullet wound she had been drawing for the past six weeks tattooed on her back left shoulder- with her mother's money of course, expertly positioned so as not to show under most t-shirts. The only person she told and who saw it was her quasi boyfriend- Tim McGee, who had spent 5 min freaking out over it, then at least half an hour exploring it with fingers, lips and tongue. From then on his nickname for her had been Shot._

That same man's voice is what brought her back to reality.

"Be careful." McGee was careful not to let the fear seep into his voice at the thought that his brother was still out there somewhere and could still hurt his family.

Jenna knew McGee well enough to hear that pain, anger and fear and to know how much it was killing him that he hadn't been there to protect his family; that he partly blamed himself for what had happened to Vicki. She knew that kind of guilt herself, she was also feeling it now, and had felt it when Rick bashed up Kat and Tim- Kat had gone home alone because Tim had been tutoring her at school, usually Tim walked Kat home. She knew the guilt was unreasonable, both then and now, but that didn't stop them both feeling it.

She strode back to Tim, kissed him strongly, pulling at his tie as she pulled away and then strode back to the group without a word. She stood there looking back at him, and almost as an afterthought she said "You too McGeek" with a slight chuckle.

A stunned DiNozzo looked at McGee, then Jenna, then back at McGee. "You call him McGeek, but he hates that!"

"I hate it when _you_ call me that. I _like_ it when Jenna calls me that. She has called me McGeek since third grade, I hated it then, later it mostly made the sex hotter. All that tension had to be released somehow. She is the only one I let call me that." McGee replied, smiling at Jenna as he did so, who winked at him. He was glad to see DiNozzo choke on, well shock really as he had nothing physical to choke on.

Gibbs chuckled and turned around to leave the hospital. Everyone except DiNozzo moved too. "DiNozzo!" Gibbs nearly shouted, in his characteristic impatient voice.

As they got further down the hall McGee heard one last comment, again from DiNozzo.

"Wait, why did he call you _Shot_?"

McGee laughed at that and faintly heard Jenna's response. "_That_ is for him to know and you to never find out!"

As Tim walked back to the waiting room where his family was he thought back to when Jenna and his relationship had gone from bad to good in one quick week, when they were fifteen.

_He was working during class and suddenly became aware of a loud indignant huff from the front of the class, where Jenna was talking with the teacher. "What? A tutor, I don't need a tutor!" The cheerleader huffed again, angrily placing her hands on her hips as she looked down at the teacher. He heard the new young teacher mumble something about the English head of department- the fierce Mrs Quinn- required it and that she would be suspended from the cheerleading squad and the softball team if she didn't pick her grades up. Jenna stepped closer to the teacher, towering over her; he and the rest of the class heard the small woman squeak- she wouldn't last long. Jenna elegantly turned on her heels to face the class- her uniform skirt gave a swift twirl and her hair hit the teachers face as she turned- the whole movement giving off an air of 'you are beneath my contempt'._

_Her eyes scanned the room looking for prey. "McGeek!" She stated with triumph, and a touch of malice. "Oh shit! What now?" Were his only thoughts. "You are now my tutor." She stated with all the finality of the world. "Why?" He asked, his voice amazingly strong. She blinked once, startled at being questioned. Then just shrugged and said "Why not?" After some quick contemplation of that he gave his own shrug and stood up, walking towards her. He saw her smirk, an expression that while he mostly found infuriating he also found very attractive on her. Looking her straight in the eyes he said: "We will meet three times a week for hour long tutes- twice after school and once on the weekend. You will sign the tutorial agreement like everyone else has to- which means that if you miss even one tutorial Mrs Quinn will know- no special treatment." "Three times" she whined, narrowing her eyes. "Yes," he replied, "if we are going to do this, we are going to do this properly, and we are going to need to work quickly to raise you marks." He raised his eyebrows at her, challenging her. "Fine" was all she said as she stared back at him. He brought his hand up to shake and said "Deal?" She shook his and replied "Deal!" He turned around to return to his seat and Jenna turned back to the teacher and raised one eye brow, half 'satisfied?'. and half 'is that all then, cause I have more important things to do then deal with you'. The teacher gave a barely perceptible nod and sat down at her desk as Jenna stalked back to her own seat._

_That afternoon, after signing all the paper work and talking to Mrs Quinn, they had ended up walking home together. They lived across the road from each other, so had walked home together a lot during elementary school. A long time ago they had started fighting and so had ended up walking on the opposite sides of the streets and yelling at each, that along with front yard squabbling and practical jokes on each other had caused their parents to intervene and impose a truce- from then on they had still walked on opposite sides of the roads but had only occasionally yelled at each other, only squabbling at school- well she bullied him and he fought back- if the football players weren't involved, which she rarely allowed- and kept doing the practical jokes- cause that was fun- she was the only one who could go tit for tat with his clever set ups for the practical jokes. That afternoon though, they actually walked together- the first time since they were eight. It was, as they say, 'the start of a beautiful relationship'. At school they kept the façade of hostility going- you can't take all the fun out at once can you, but at home their friendship developed and they learnt to have fun together again and it turned into a sexual relationship the next year, which had never truly disappeared._

McGee went into the room to check on Vicki for the first time since arriving. The blanket covered her up to her shoulders, but he could see the wires coming out from underneath the blanket. Her face was a mess of bruises and tubes, small cuts were also all over her face. Most of the blood had been cleaned off, but there was still some matted in her long brown hair, which was strewn across the pillow. A thin strip of hair had been shaved off so they could stitch up a long cut on her scalp. Her plastered leg was pocking out at the end of the bed. He let the tears welling up to escape and slowly leant down to kiss her cheek. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and talked to her for a little while.  
"Vicki, I am so sorry, I should have been here. I should have…uhhh…. The girls are fine, they're safe, and they're coping pretty well actually. Izzie is scared- but that's to be expected, she cried before, when I first arrived. God, I didn't want to let her go. I wanted to hold her in my arms forever, or at least till the bastard is behind bars. And Kat, Kat is angry and sad but will not let go. Being strong, for Izzie, for me, for you. We all need you, need you to wake up, to be alright." He sat there for a couple of minutes, just in silence, then he got up to go back to the waiting room- to do just that, wait.

Tim lent against the door frame, watching his children. William had distracted Izzie with a card game and Kat was reading a book, absentmindedly patting Izzie on the head, her hand occasionally going down to play with the little girl's hair- winding it around her hand. While Kat was technically his niece, he had long ago come to think of her as his daughter, and to treat her as such. He sat down on the sofa and was quickly engulfed in the scene. Kat propped her feet on his knees and Izzie shifted to lean against his legs. Will looked up at him and smiled. When the game was finished Will moved up beside his Dad and was soon asleep, leaning against Tim. Izzie started drawing, still leaning against his legs. This was how the nurse found them an hour later. She looked in at them and said with a sad smile that Vicki was stable but still the same, and that the cafeteria was now serving dinner if they wanted some food. Tim thanked her. He asked the girls if they were hungry, but they both shook their heads, Will was still asleep. He gently moved Will so that he wasn't leaning against him, tapped Kat's leg to get her to move her feet, and leant down to kiss Izzie on the forehead before getting up.

At the nurses station he asked if there was somewhere else he could set up his computer to work without disturbing the kids, they pointed him to a small room at the end of the corridor with a kitchenette saying he could use that. It was time to have a conversation with Abby he was not looking forward to.


	10. Provocations

**Chapter 10- Provocations**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. **

AN: And a lifetime later...**A NEW CHAPTER! **Finally got through the writer's block. Yay.

Jennastood up with a slight groan and stretched, feeling her spine pop as she pulled her arms above her head. Three hours of nonstop processing was not nice to her body.

She put the last of the sealed bags into the box next to the door and took one final look over her friend's house. When she had moved here, about a year after Vicki, they had had a big fight because Jenna wanted Vicki to live closer to town, suggesting that maybe they could share a house- so they could help each other with the kids and maybe she and the girls would be safer. Now she was sorry that she hadn't been more insistent, sorry that she had bowed to her mother's pressure to go to her cousin's wedding, wishing she had come home a day earlier like she had wanted to. Sorry she hadn't tried harder to get Vicki to come with her, take a break.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to the grey haired man beside her.

"It's not your fault." Gibbs said, his gruff presence and statement going right to the heart of her worries.

"I know." She replied. "But I can't stop wondering if I could have changed anything- helped." She said with a shrug. She knew she was letting her emotions get the better of her- that this was not the time to think about the woulda, coulda, shoulda. Nor was it entirely rational to do so.

Gibbs nodded. "Normal, not helpful, but normal."

Jenna nodded herself and picked up the box, taking it to her car. Closing the trunk she turned to the now squabbling agents with a raised eyebrow, smiling as they were both 'Gibbs slapped' before he gestured for them to get in the car- which she and Gibbs did as well. The sheriff and his man also got into their car and followed them back to town- Jenna and the team to the hospital and the sheriff to the police station.

As they pulled in front of the hospital, a young man approached them, and after a quick conversation with Jenna, and signing paperwork, he took the boxes of evidence and took it to their lab.

Approaching Vicki's room they heard a screeching shout from a small room- to which both Tony and Ziva flinched in recognition and Gibbs frowned muttering 'Abby' under his breath. Jenna decided it would be best if she retreated to the waiting room and let them deal with this.

The team approached the room where Tim now sat in front of his computer- a livid looking Abby on his screen. His face looked ashen and he was flexing his hands in fists, trying to control his own anger- Abby seemed unaware she was only a cyber length away from being hit.

"I can't believe you did this to me, to us." She complained- gesticulating between the two of them.

With a surprising amount of calm he responded to her. "There is no '_us'_, Abby. We went out once- four years ago. You told me there _could never_ be an '_us'_. You're a good friend Abby (behind him Tony mouthed 'ouch' as he realised that Abby had been put in the 'friend zone' from which he knew there was no return), but I have never been more sure that you were right- there can be no 'us'. Abby they have good facilities here- as good as, maybe even better (they heard a squeak- a mixture of horror, disbelief and betrayal from Abby) a team that is developing the latest technologies and techniques. And yes they are all NCIS approved- in fact they have as higher level of clearance as you do. (he said, anticipating her response when she opened her mouth) The Director has signed off on this, so if you have a problem- take it up with her. Now, if you don't mind, I would rather go sit with my family and wait for one of my _best_ friends to wake up in the ICU bed she was put into after being bashed nearly to death by my brother." His words conveyed that he was having a bad day- a very, very bad day- but his tone said not to mess with him at the moment- or you would discover just how his quick mind and stubbornness, which he had inherited from his father, could be put to use. He stood up, disconnecting the link as he did so- before he did so, Abby's voice came through one last unheard plea. As he turned around he was surprised to see his team standing behind him. He was even more surprised to see the looks of pride coming from them. Gibbs slapped him on the shoulder in a paternal gesture, Ziva smiled at the man she had come to love as a brother- more than she ever had her own brother. DiNozzo put his hand out for a high five, saying "dude, I didn't know you had it in you" almost laughing. Out of habit McGee answered the high five, even though he wasn't really feeling it.

Again DiNozzo spoke. "She freaked out about not doing the lab work?" He asked even though he knew the answer. McGee just nodded, now only feeling exhausted and somewhat defeated.

"She didn't even know about Jenna and the kids?" Tony asked, again he was answered with a nod. Tony looked a little shocked and disappointed that Abby had been so petty.

Tim walked out of the room, hearing Tony behind him saying something about who gets to talk Abby down now- to which Gibbs replied that Tony was the only one able to have that conversation without his relationship with Abby being damaged.

Tim smiled a little at that and continued on to the waiting room where he sat down next to Jenna on the sofa, shifting a now sleeping Izzie so that her head rested on his leg.

Gibbs followed into the room, taking a moment to consider the image of his youngest agent as a family man- fingers of one hand entwined with Jenna's, the other hand softly carding through his little daughter's hair. The other two children were sleeping in the other chairs.

"Why did it take you three hours to talk to Abby?" Gibbs asked, not liking the way Tim sagged even further at the mention of Abby's name.

"I tried earlier, Boss, but she refused to talk to me- twice. So I talked to Director Sheppard and Ducky and updated them and made sure the Director agreed to let the lab work be done here, which she did. She also sent my brother's file- Tony will be able to show you." Tim said with a sigh, relaxing a bit as Jenna rubbed circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.

"Why did she refuse to talk to you?" Gibbs asked.

"She said she wouldn't talk to me until I agreed to send the evidence down to her." Tim responded with a terse laugh.

"That's absurd- my team will have results before evidence would even reach her- why waste time and effort taking evidence outside of a jurisdiction when there is a perfectly good lab able to do the job here." Jenna said, incredulous, to which Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"That is nearly word for word what I said to her, and the Director." Tim said. "I think I'll owe Ducky and Jimmy good thank you gifts after this over."

"Why?" Asked Gibbs.

"They're the ones taking the full brunt of Abby's emotions at the moment, I'm sure." Tim responded.

"Not your fault she's acting like a spoiled brat." Gibbs said with a huff.

"Tim, you look at me!" Jenna said, freeing her hand so that she could turn McGee's face to face her. "This is not your fault, none of it- not the assault, not little-miss-tantrum. You have done nothing wrong ."

"I could have been more honest, told…" McGee countered.

"No, you couldn't have." Jenna said. "We made a deal, the three of us, when you and Vicky applied for NCIS positions, to be discrete about our pasts and our odd little family. Because of Rick, and also because of our careers."

"You lied on your application?" Gibbs asked.

"No." They both said. Tim continued. "We don't bring it up, ever. Unless someone's life depended on it. Vicki was worried about Rick using Navy contacts to find her, through us. It was safer not to tell anyone, in case the wrong person was told. So when I started working at Norfolk, she made me promise not to tell anyone about her or the kids. A promise I have kept until now." He sat back with a sigh.

"What about..." Gibbs said, gesturing to Jenna.

"Between us both working at, or with, NCI, and the promise we both made to Vicki, it seemed easier to not to broadcast our relationship. I knew it would be hard for Tim not to talk about his family, but I knew it would be harder if he could talk about some parts of his family, but not other parts. So I told him not to talk about me or William either. Tim has never liked having his private life on display to the public anyway." Jenna said.

"Boss, I'm sorry I didn't tell you- all of you- but I had to put my family first, their safety comes first."

Gibbs nodded, understanding. Agents' lives and families were at times targeted, because of their work. With their history, it was easy to see why.

None of them noticed Tony and Ziva standing outside the room listening to the conversation. Both realised that their affection for and protectiveness of the youngest member of their team was stronger than any anger or hurt feelings they had over Tim not telling them about his family, especially after hearing why.

Soon after that Gibbs, Tony and Ziva all headed out again to join the Sheriff in the man hunt.

Jenna also went back to her lab, after sitting with Vicki for a while. Tim continued to sit and care for his children.


	11. The Lab

**Chapter 11: The Lab**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own a NCIS or its characters.

**AN: **This chapter contains a lot of violence.

Not long after everyone left Tim went back into Vicki's room and sat with her. He was soon joined by the three kids once each woke up. The team came back after calling off the search for the day and going over the case so far with the sheriff, around 8pm.

Gibbs stepped into the patient room where the four weary looking family members kept close watch on the sleeping woman. With a gentle hand on his agent's shoulder he roused the young man and when he looked up Gibbs silently indicated the other room, where Tony and Ziva were putting down bags of take away food.

Tim quietly got the kids to come back to the other room to have dinner.

"Ellyse, at the shop said to say that she packed each of your favourites. So I don't actually know what's in there." Tony said as he opened containers.

"Thanks" Tim said as he and the kids each grabbed some food- indeed they all did find their favourites- as they settled down the other three helped themselves as well and the seven had a nice dinner. At first it was rather quiet, but Tony can't be quiet for very long, so he started talking and managed to bring everyone into conversation, for which Tim gave him a grateful smile.

By the time they had all finished eating Tony was telling outlandish (but surprisingly censored) stories about things from work. Everyone was relaxed and laughing, even little Izzie. It was another hour until they started to quiet down, after the two younger children fell asleep.

Around 9.30pm, Tim got a text from Jenna. "Got something to show your boss. Can Gibbs come out here?"

"Boss, Jenna wants you to go out to the lab, she has some results she wants you to see. I can take you out there, if Tony and Ziva stay here."

Gibbs just nodded , seeing the agreement of his other agents.

Tim texted back "we're coming."

The two got up and walked out of the hospital. When they got to the university 30 minutes later Tim directed Gibbs to the lab parking area.

They walked into a bigger lab than Gibbs expected, with eight people working at different machines and tables, as well as Jenna.

It had a spacious layout, with dedicated processing areas as well as teaching areas. One large area was dedicated solely to computers and electronic devices. Designs, some functional with charts and information and others purely aesthetic, were digitally projected on to the walls, so that the atmosphere was fun and electric rather than purely sterile (though of course it was).

Jenna stepped towards them. "Tim, you know everyone?" She asked.

Tim looked around and nodded, reaching out his hand to hold it hers for a moment, Gibbs noticed she squeezed it briefly, both seeking comfort from other.

Jenna turned towards him. "Agent Gibbs, these are my interns, all postgraduate students who I am supervising." She said before turning to the gathered group of students, who all nodded or mouthed a greeting.

With that she moved away, towards the bays of computers, McGee and Gibbs followed, with most of the interns following as well. Photos of her injuries- as well as the statements given by Jack and Kat; and the video and photos we took at the house, we have been able to reconstruct what probably happened this morning." Jenna said.

"Video?" Gibbs asked.

She nodded. "Did you notice I had a camera attached to a strap on my shoulder?" At his nod she continued. "It transmits a live feed back to here." She indicated the computers. "That way my interns can start analysis on things like blood spatter and glass shards before I am even done collecting the evidence." She took them to a computer further away.

This one had a screen was on the table top itself, on which there was a pattern a bit like a jigsaw, part of the table had pieces of glass sitting on top of the corresponding shape. Two other screens standing on either side had a close up of a piece of glass and a picture of the glass as it was found at the scene. Even Gibbs could tell without being told that they had used the pictures from the scene to digitally reconstruct the glass sheet into a whole, presumably to figure out how it had been broken.

On the computers back at the bay he saw that some of the screens had blood splatter with things like height and angle of blow highlighted on them.

He nodded , seeing the usefulness of this, what might have taken them a day or two to work through back at HQ they had done in seven hours- from the time Jenna had stepped into the house until now.

"Actually the camera design is Tim's." Jenna said behind him. "As is most of the programming we use here."

Gibbs turned to his now embarrassed agent, who shrugged and said. "This is what my degree is in." Gibbs allowed himself a smile at that.

"Why don't you work in a lab like this, instead of in the field?" He asked.

"I do come up here, usually once a month or twice a month, for a couple of days. And I spend time in the cyber unit at HQ working on things like this." Tim looked at Gibbs. "All that 'allocated research hours' the Director allows me to take. Of course the beauty of programming is that I can do it anywhere, I do a lot after hours at home. As my father is fond of saying 'if you've got a doctorate, then use it'1. What he doesn't understand is that I get most of my ideas from field work."

Jenna suddenly clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention, drawing attention away from Tim's awkwardness.

"Well, we have put together a reconstruction, as I said before, if you could come in here, I'll show you." She said walking towards a door she opened and walked through. Gibbs and McGee followed her, as well as one intern; the others went back to their work. They walked into a completely white room. Two metres into the room there was a railing blocking off most of the room, in front of it was a table with a computer. Looking around the only other things Gibbs could see was projectors attached to all the walls and ceiling at different locations and heights.

Once they were all inside, the intern- whose name was Charlie- after a nod from Jenna, started talking.

"From the evidence we were able to ascertain that there were indeed only two people involved in the altercation. One male and one female. DNA analyses is not finished, so we cannot confirm the identity of the identity of the male as of yet." As he said this he started a program on the computer. The projectors sprung to life, making the room first entirely blue, and then an image formed, an animation.

The method of projection gave the illusion that they were standing in front of the house that Gibbs and the team had only hours before been processing, making it feel like they were there. The point of view was from the front door, it was mostly dark with the glow of early morning in the summer.

As they watched, a car came down the road and into the long driveway. As the car came closer to the house a motion sensor light came on, lighting everything that happened from then on.

A man- or rather a silhouette of a man- got out of the car, standing still for a few seconds looking at the house. He then moved to the trunk of the car and pulled out first a flak vest, after which he pulled out a shot gun.

Gibbs heard a gasp from beside him, and from the corner of his eye he saw Jenna grab McGee's hand.

The man now walked towards the house, he stood there a moment and seemed to be shouting and then kicked in the door and walked in. The 'camera' followed, now looking over his shoulder.

On the other side of the room was a woman in pyjamas- ones that matched the pyjamas Gibbs had noticed on a table outside.

The woman- Vicky- had a gun aimed at his chest and fired three shots before the assailant fired a shot of his own.

They watched as the bullet hit her, it caused her to drop her gun but it did not penetrate.

"Bean bag round." Gibbs said, and Charles nodded in agreement.

The man sped forward and kicked the dropped weapon away. Vicky recovered from the blow but was still somewhat winded, she managed to move towards the sofa, putting it between them. She ducked as he fired another shot, is hit the wall behind her instead. Having no more ammunition he threw his own gun away. He made his way toward her as she walked backwards, chest heaving as she laboured to breathe through the pain of the earlier shot. She threw anything she could get her hands on- remote, cushions, mug with still warm hot chocolate in it- it slowed him down a bit and distracted him enough for he to get around back the sofa before he could get to her. She quickened her pace to get away in the more open space, but he went over the sofa, leaping off the back- knocking it down as he went – and was soon on her.

The two fought, Vicky keeping distance between them which them as much as possible, but the man soon dominated, though she did manage to get some good hits in.

An already bloody Vicky managed to move away from him and almost made it to the door, but he grabbed her. She kicked back into his knee so he threw her forward, propelling her into the window.

He dropped briefly onto one knee, scraping it on broken china from a knocked over vase, cutting through his trousers and dripping blood on the floor. He stalked over and crouched over her. She shuffled back some but he reached forward and grabbed her ankle harshly, dragging her back.

Disorientated, she weakly hit out at him, but he grabbed hold of her flailing arms and gripping them in one hand he used his free arm to punch her face a few times before she blacked out.

Realising she was unresponsive he leaned back on his haunches. After a moment of just looking at her, blood dripping from a cut on his arm, he reached up and swiped his hand over it, looking at the blood and then wiping his hand on the white tea towel that was on the coffee table next to where the mug had been.

Dropping it on the floor he got up and looked around the rest of the house, the 'camera' following again. As he walked away he left bloody shoe prints from his left boot.

He opened doors to rooms and walked inside, checking closets, under beds, behind furniture, all the different places a teenager and a five year old could hide.

That took nearly five minutes. Having made sure no one was in the house he made his way to the bathroom, taking out the first aid kit to clean up his few wounds and wipe the blood of his shoe. Washing his hands and drying them off on the towel hanging on the rack he made went back into the lounge.

He sat down on the coffee table, watching the still unconscious Vicky. As she started to rouse he moved around to stand over her. Her eyes flew open and she rushed to try and get back up.

She managed to get a hold of the sofa, her hand covered in her own blood, leaving a mark as she grabbed it to lever herself up.

Just as she managed to almost sit up he squatted down and grabbed the back of her pyjama top, which ripped as it snagged on something in front, pulling her towards him.

She was now lying flat on her back, with him leaning over her. He ran a finger up her now exposed tummy, trailing her blood up as he went.

It was at that point that car lights and blue and red flashes appeared in the back ground. The man turned his head to look out onto the street and then suddenly stood up. He made his way through the house quickly and into the back yard, where he grabbed a trial motorcycle that was standing in the yard. Starting it he sped off into the bush.

At this point the animation stopped and the room went back to a glowing blue before turning off and flooding the room in whiteness.

Gibbs turned to the others, to see Jenna gripping at a very pale and sickly looking McGee's arm.

McGee reached out a shaky hand and opened the door, Jenna letting go so they could step outside.

As they stepped out into the main lab McGee took a deep breath as he tried to settle himself, but then had to dash for the nearest sink as that had the opposite effect.

Gibbs turned to Charlie as Jenna went over to comfort Tim.

"That was very detailed, how accurate is it?" He asked the also shaken intern.

"Uhh, well, uhh." He stopped to let out a shaky breath. "Of course we can't be a hundred percent accurate, but the evidence speaks for itself, so that allows us a rather high degree of accuracy. Though of course some is conjecture based on how things were found." He said, getting a nod from Gibbs. "Details like the tea towel being on the coffee table we based on the presence of butter on the towel, leading us to assume that it had been there prior, for wiping butter off hands from the popcorn. The sheriff h ad one of his men take photos of Vicky before the ambulance arrived, so we had those as well as the one you took when you processed the scene, they showed a distinctive line on her stomach."

Gibbs nodded again as he looked over at his young agent who was now sitting on the floor, leaning against the cabinet. He went over and crouched next to him.

"You ok?" He asked.

Tim opened his eyes. "I don't think I'll be playing shooting games any time soon." He sounded so weary, broken. "Gibbs, I think I might actually kill him this time, if I get the chance. If he's lucky I'll just shoot him." He said as he leaned his head back against the cabinet, closing his eyes again. "He has never shot at any of them before. Vicky and Kat have faced him with guns before, but neither of them had to shoot him before, because he never had a gun himself and he backed down when they had guns aimed at him."

Gibbs grunted his understanding and with a quick pat to his knee he got up, leaving Jenna to take care of him.

Looking over at him Gibbs decided he wouldn't take his agent's gun off him, but he would do everything he could to make sure that McGee didn't get that chance.

Not because he thought that Rick didn't deserve that bullet, but because he wanted to spare Tim the pain and regret that still plagued him.

1 Children's book _Counting on Frank _by Rod Clement opens with the line "My dad says, 'if you've got a brain, then use it.' So I do" I've always loved this line and couldn't resist adapting it here.


	12. The Brother

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS, or its characters.

AN: This is the final official chapter, but there will be an epilogue.

**WARNING: This chapter contains a death.**

Gibbs drove back to the hospital with both McGee and Jenna in the back seat resting. Her head was resting on his shoulder. Both had their eyes closed but every now and again Tim's hand would rub her leg just above her knee.

Gibbs couldn't help but think about everything he had missed with Shannon and Kelly. While he would never wish this situation on anyone, it reminded him that Kelly had missed out on finding love and starting her own family.

The three where silent as they made their way back to the hospital, where Gibbs dropped them off before heading to the Sheriff's house and the spare bed he had been offered there for the night. DiNozzo and Ziva would stay at the hospital and take it in turns to keep watch over the resting family.

The next day the search resumed, sending Gibbs, DiNozzo and Ziva out with the local cops and local Naval personnel, from the base.

Tim stayed at the hospital with the kids, while Jenna was at the labs as she and her interns continued to process the evidence.

Mid morning Vicki woke up for a little while and was able to talk briefly with Tim and the girls before going back to sleep. The doctors reassured them this was normal and actually a good sign as it meant that her body was working hard to repair itself.

The brief moment of alertness also changed the atmosphere of the group. They managed to relax a bit more as the fear for her life ebbed.

At lunch time Tim took the kids to the cafeteria rather than take food to them. The day before the girls particularly had been reluctant to go too far away from their mother, but now that they had been assured that she would be fine they were becoming a bit stir crazy from staying the same room all day.

On the way back to the room Tim was talking to a nurse as the three children trailed behind chatting. He turned to settle them as they started to argue over something, when he heard the nurse gasp and drop her armload of paperwork. Tim was turning back around and had his gun out before he even registered what he saw. As he did so Kat instinctively pulled the younger two behind him.

As his brain started going into overdrive his hands remained steady and his gun level as it was pointed straight at his brother's chest.

"Will you look at that, little Timmy acting like one of the big boys!" Rick said with a laugh in his voice.

Tim took a breath to centre himself, and looked back at his brother.

"Richard McGee, you are under arrest for the attempted _murder_ of Victoria McGee." Tim said. He was interrupted from saying anything else.

"So formal Timmy!" Rick said, laughing. "Are you going to come take my gun off me then, hmm?" He mocked, waving his own drawn handgun. "Or do you expect me to just throw it away?" he moved his gun slightly to the left, aiming it more precisely. "Katrina here knows I won't, don't you darling." He added, with a cold cruel edge to his voice.

"Don't you dare even look at her!" Tim growled.

"Or what?" The elder McGee brother asked mockingly.

"Or you'll end up with a bullet in your brain." A gruff voice said from beside them both.

Out the corner of his eye Tim could see that it was Gibbs, with DiNozzo beside him. Ziva was coming up behind Rick. They all had their guns drawn.

With another cold laugh Rick said. "Is this where someone says 'surrender we've got you surrounded, there's no way out."

DiNozzo gave a little shrug. "Let's take that as already said."

Rick's only answer was to aim his gun back at Tim's head. The three agents each adjusted their stance as they each resisted the temptation to shoot.

"Ahh, still daddy's precious little boy I see." Rick said, alluding to the team's protectiveness of him. "Dad must be _soo_ proud, his baby boy is all grown up and now an agent taking on the big bad world." Rick snarled at him.

It was Tim's turn to shrug. "Dad wants me behind a desk, protected from the 'big bad world'" He said.

"Of course- little Timmy can't play ball, can't roughhouse, can't go on the ship, can't can't, can't. 'Go inside Timmy, back to your science books Timmy, your computer awaits you Timmy, go get a degree Timmy- _you're not wanted here'_." He laughed at Tim's hurt expression. Then he noticed that Ziva and Tony had both taken a step forward. "Nah ah, don't take another step." He said, gesturing with the gun. "Or baby brother doesn't live to see another day." They both backed off a little.

Behind him he heard Izzie make a distraught sound, but Kat hushed her and William took her hand so Tim kept his attention on his brother- and his brother's attention on him.

"Dad may not think I'm the right type to be an agent, but he definitely hates the man you've become. His protectiveness is mostly in fear that I'll become like you." He said, though he knew taunting an armed and dangerous man was not a good plan. He spared a quick glance for Jenna, who had just arrived but was still further down the corridor behind Ziva.

"Instead you're just like him- defending the weak, protect the small, vulnerable ones." Rick said, mocking both father and brother.

"Till the day I die." Tim answered, pride in his work and belief in importance of their job seeping into his voice, a hint of a smile appearing.

"That can be arranged." Rick said menacingly.

"And yet I'm still breathing." Tim offered with a shrug.

"Oh, you know me, I like to take things slow, draw it out as long as possible, taunt. Hit where it hurts the most." With that he suddenly moved his arm, the gun becoming pointed at Izzie, who was still held in her sister's grip as they stood behind Tim.

Before his finger touched the trigger four simultaneous shots were heard.

Kat lifted her head up from the twisted crouch she had moved into to protect Izzie as soon as Rick's gun had moved.

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva all moved closer to the now crumpled and bloodied body in the middle of the corridor, meanwhile both Jenna and Tim turned their attention to the children, running to them and engulfing them in hugs and kisses as they made sure none of them were hurt- physically at least.

Kat felt Tim's hands on her face as he moved got her to look away from the form of her father's body.

His eyes shone with tears, but also with love as he looked at her.

"He's dead." She whispered.

"Yes." He answered, though it hadn't been a question.

She sagged into his arms and let him embrace her as tears started flowing down her face. "It's finally over." She said as an overpowering relief and the stress of the last few days was released. The five of them- Tim, Jenna, Kat, Izzie and William- held onto each other to give and receive the comfort they all sorely needed.

After what seemed like an age, yet also only a speck of time, first Jenna and then Tim pulled away knowing that there was still work to be done.

By then Sheriff Black and a few of his men had arrived. Gibbs was on the phone with the Director- updating her, organising for other agents to come and take their statements. Ducky would come for the autopsy, though Jenna and her team could still process the evidence.

Once he was done with the call he went over to the distraught family and crouched in front of his young agent, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and offer comfort.

As Tim turned, the pain he was feeling was evident on his face for all to see. "I shot him in the knee." He said, his voice hoarse from crying and from stress, as much a question as a statement.

Gibbs nodded. "It was a good shot." He said, his hand moving up to Tim's neck as he tried to express his confidence and even pride in the young man, but also to get him to listen. "You didn't kill your brother." He said, his tone half that of an officer giving an order and a father giving reassurance. Tim released a harsh breath he hadn't known he was holding on to. Tears started flowing again as he mouthed "thank you", Gibbs nodded again in acknowledgement.

"Tim, why don't you take the kids back to Vicky's room?" Gibbs said as he pulled his hand away from Tim, sitting back on haunches.

Turning to Jenna he said. "Can your team process the scene? The Director has authorised your continued work on this case, though Ducky's going to come do the autopsy."

With a shaky breath she nodded. She gave each of the kids a kiss on the forehead and reached out for Tim's hand briefly before getting up. She pulled out her phone and stepped away to make the necessary phone call.

Tim also stood up, as he did so both Ziva and Tony came over. They approached him hesitantly- their faces offering comfort but their eyes begging forgiveness. Ziva moved as if she wanted to hug him but wasn't sure if he would let her.

With a shaky smile Tim reached out to her, giving assent, and let himself be engulfed into her hug. After a moment she stepped away hesitantly, giving room for Tony approach.

Tim and Tony shared quicker, brotherly hug. Tim felt Tony relax a bit as he told him it was okay, knowing that Tony needed to hear the words.

After that Tim gathered the three children and turned away to take them to see Vicky. A nurse went with them on either side, like a guard of honour.

Gibbs indicated to Tony to go with them.

As she finished her phone call Jenna glanced at the retreating group and then at Gibbs and Ziva who had both gone back into professional modes.

Walking over to a nearby shelf she pulled out a pair of gloves from a box, and pulling them on she let the 'snap' of them falling into place wash away her emotions and pull her into that objective centre of professional calm.

With a nod to Gibbs she crouched down next to the body, giving it a preliminary assessment.

Lifting up the head briefly she examined the side of the head. "GSW to the left side of the skull." She looked up at Gibbs, who nodded- acknowledging the shot to be his.

Moving down the torso she again spoke. "GSW to the left side chest area." Without looking up she heard Ziva whisper "Tony". She moved further down the body, she came to the third bullet wound. "GSW in the knee cap, through and through." Looking around she pointed to a bullet lodged into the floor, leaving it there for one of her interns to process later.

"Damn good shot." Sheriff Black commented, somewhat awed.

Gibbs nodded. "Trained him well."

"That you have." The sheriff said.

Jenna got up, walking around the body. Crouching down again, avoiding the pool of blood, she inspected the fourth bullet wound. "Direct hit to the spine." Behind her Ziva shuffled a bit, trying not to rate her own marksmanship.

As Jenna stood up she said. "In short the head and two torso shots were all fatal injuries- with any one of these he would have been dead before he hit the floor. The knee wound would have been debilitating but not fatal. Of course a full autopsy will be needed to corroborate that."

Not long after that her lab staff arrived and proceeded to process the scene. Once the body had been removed, she turned towards her friend's room, where her family was.

From beside her Gibbs said. "Go." She turned to look at him then pulling off the gloves, doing just that.


End file.
